Strikezone

Wilson: Raiders take huge step with win over Seymour By Rick Wilson Republican-American

TORRINGTON -- Look, we don't have to be told it is early in the spring season. After all, the dandelions aren't even out yet and the last remnants of snow only begrudgingly gave way to the warmth this week. Athletic directors are still trying to figure where the key to the supply rooms are to put the basketballs away.

So what do we make of the fourth game of the season? Standings-wise, let's not get carried away. But there was plenty of early season wow factor in Torrington on Wednesday afternoon.

Here's your first wow: Torrington 3, Seymour 0. With dynamic junior hurler Sydney Matzko on the mound, the final score is not a big surprise. But try this one on: Seymour lost to Woodland on Monday. Assistant coach Jamie Yakushewich knows all the stats on the Wildcats' legendary program, and he even he can't remember specifically the last time Seymour lost two games in a row.

"It has to be the early 1990s," said Yakushewich.

Hey, Yak knows. Twenty years without losing two games in a row. Wow.

So this is new territory for the Wildcats, who have won 13 of the last 15 Naugatuck Valley League titles. Maybe not panic territory, but certainly the type of unfamiliar territory for which you need a GPS.

Matzko wows you a lot on an ordinary day. The junior lefty is a rare talent who sends a ton of batters back to the bench with wind burn from balls blowing by them. There were 14 whiffs against the Wildcats.

But this was a different performance for the lefty laser. Seymour swings the bats, and the Wildcats touched Matzko for 10 hits, eight of them of the infield variety and four of them bunt singles by speedy Morgan Scinto.

Matzko had only one clean inning, the fifth, when she retired the side in order. But it was almost like she enjoyed the experience. Seymour put 11 runners on base and they all stayed there, not one reaching the most important point — home plate.

Matzko stranded three in the first when she got Amanda Harkins to pop up. Two more were left on the bags in the third inning when Mykala O'Hara and Harkins struck out. Same result in the fifth inning

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when O'Hara and Harkins went down on strikes again with runners on first and third, and one out.

It was almost like a tantalizing tease with Matzko pushing the buttons.

"You just have to bear down and push harder," said Matzko of pitching with runners on base. "You have to throw every pitch like it is your last pitch. My job is to bear down and not to let them score. We got things right that they got wrong today. Enough to beat them."

The Red Raiders (4-0) won't underestimate this win, Game 4 or not. April 9 or not. They were wowed.

"We wanted this game," said Torrington coach Maryann Musselmann. "That was one of our team goals. And (Sydney) has been wanting to take Seymour down since her freshman year. This was for our confidence. We came out right from the start focused and we knew what to do with the ball. It was all about confidence.'

Carissa Wasikowski was a hard-luck loser, allowing just four hits and victimized by some uncharacteristic Seymour mistakes. Torrington took the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning on one of those mistakes.

Brittany Anderson singled and took second base on an errant throw. After Nikki Jamieson bunted Anderson to third base, Marissa Morris put down a perfect bunt toward the mound that scored Anderson.

"Small ball is a very important part of the game," said Morris. "I knew I had to get the ball down. I had my head up and my mind was clear. We knew this was going to be low-scoring, and we had to get on top first."

Whether Matzko was flirting with trouble or just putting on the big tease, there was a degree of discomfort around, so the Raiders erased it all in the sixth. Again with some uncharacteristic help from Seymour.

Dakotah Manson led off the inning by smoking a line drive home run to center field. Brittany Young then bunted. The throw went off first baseman O'Hara's glove into right field. Raeanne Geffert picked up the ball and threw between shortstop and third base into left field as Young scampered around to score.

"We had 16 hits against Woodland and scored four runs. Today, we had baserunners on every inning and can't come through with the big hit," said Pereiras. "Matzko is a good pitcher. In some situations, she got strikeouts. This is a tournament-like atmosphere and these are young kids. They will learn and get better. We're still a good team. We're still going to compete for a title. This should have been a 1-0 game."

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